Jason's Devotions Archive

God’s Grace Changing Hearts:  Judah and Joseph Reconciled!

This passage from Genesis 44:18 – 45:8 never fails to break my heart–in a good way!     This last week maybe you read the story of Joseph.  You remember that while all the brothers had acted in jealous anger and thrown Joseph in a cistern, it was Judah who had taken the lead in selling Joseph into slavery.  Reuben had wanted to preserve Joseph’s life and return him to Jacob once the anger had cooled.   But while Reuben stepped away, Judah acted and removed Joseph from the scene.   To conceal what Judah had done, the brothers bloodied Joseph’s coat of many colors and deceived Jacob into believing his beloved son was dead.

So sum it up:  Judah’s jealous anger at his brother eclipses his humanity almost entirely.  To make himself feel better, he is willing to break his father’s heart, to destroy Jacob’s will to live, and to do so by ruining his brother’s life.

But notice the change that God has worked in both Joseph and Judah.  Joseph has become secure and confident in God’s gracious hand to redeem all the past;  Judah has become a man willing to sacrifice himself to prevent further harm to Jacob.  In short, God’s grace has changed hearts.  Read these verses if you will:

“Then Judah went up to [Joseph] and said, ‘Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word to my lord….if the boy [Benjamin] is not with us when I go back to your servant my father and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life, sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die.  Your servant will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow…Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.  How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me?  No!  Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father.”   Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!”  So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.  And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him…Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph!  Is my father still alive?”  But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.  Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me….I am your brother Joseph…and now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you…it was not you who sent me here, but God!”

Amazing.  Can you feel the difference?  Judah, compelled by love for Benjamin and his father, now willing to become a slave himself;  Joseph, moved to compassion and refusing to let his brothers even feel angry with themselves for their grevious sin.  Our Lord Jesus on the cross said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”:  that’s gracious, forgiving love….a love about which Paul said, “Can anything separate us from the love of Christ?”

I hope you know that the same love that swept away Judah’s and Joseph’s past can sweep over your life, if you will just believe it.   If you want to hear more, join us Sunday and Wednesday as we open God’s word.

Yours and His,

Jason   -  Preacher, DPCC

Did you get a chance to check out my recommended memory verse?   Genesis 6:3  “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal;  his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”  I am intrigued by that verse because it has two possible readings. 

The first, of which most people are aware, is that Noah has 120 years to build the ark before man’s ‘day’s are ended by the flood. 

The second, which is better supported by the language, is simpler:  the final outcome of the flood will be that the maximum lifespan of a man’s “days” will be a mere 120 years.

Perhaps you’ve never considered that thought.  Let me tell you why it merits consideration, and why it matters to you.  First, almost every time the Bible uses the words “his days’ or “a man’s days”, it refers to the lifespan.  Second, the same words are never used to refer to the span of the collective human race:  i.e., humanity’s ‘days’ until exile or a future judgment.   Third, and most important, you’ll find in Genesis 11 a genealogy of Noah’s descendants down to Terah:  the lifespan gradually shrinks from Noah’s 950 years and Shem’s 600 years, down to the shortest-lived of Noah’s descendants, Nahor, Abraham’s grandfather, who lived to be—you guessed it (almost!)—119 years old.

Fourth, and most gripping, is the fact that even though the children of Nahor kept outliving this new benchmark–Abraham, 175;  Isaac, 180;  Jacob, 137—God finally fulfilled this prophecy of “his days will be 120 years” when he took Moses from this life.  At that time, Moses’ “eyes were not weak nor was his strength gone”, yet he was precisely–you guessed it–120 years old!

Given the previous, it’s intriguing that some longevity specialists have determined that as near as they can tell, with extremely good nutrition, exercise, and environment, the upper limit of the human body’s genetic ability to reproduce itself and keep itself alive is roughly–can you guess?—120 years.

God’s word is trustworthy in every particular!  When God said it, you can believe it.  “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal:  his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

By the way—he is contending with us all during the days of our lives to bring us to accept his love for us!   He will never stop contending with you, as long as you live, to bring you to accept his Son’s deep love for you.   If you’d like to learn more, come see us this Sunday or Wednesday!

Yours and His,

Jason Murray — Preaching Minister, DPCC